Stapedotomy with titanium and Teflon prostheses: Retrospective analysis of the results

Estapedotomía con prótesis de titanio y teflón: Análisis retrospectivo de los resultados

Objective: to describe the results obtained with the placement of two stapedial prostheses to patients subjected to stapedotomy due to otosclerosis. Type of study: descriptive and retrospective review of cases.
Methods: titanium and Teflon-platinum prostheses were used to close the difference between the bone and air (gap) curves produced by otosclerosis. We reviewed 70 cases intervened at the Hospital de San José between 2002 and 2005, by three surgeons. We used a small fenestration technique performed with manual drillers; 48 cases met the criteria. We excluded cases of revision, those with anatomical anomalies or inadequate data before or after surgery. The bone-air gap was measured with pure tone audiometry at four frequencies and the limit threshold for sensorineural hearing loss, based on the PTA (auditory tonal average).
Results: 33 cases were grouped with Teflon and 15 titanium prostheses. The closure of the bone-air gap less than or equal to 10 db was 80% for titanium and 76% for Teflon. The sensorineural hearing loss was low for both groups without significant difference.
Discussion: the results were similar for both groups, but it was observed that the titanium prosthesis was slightly higher. The results described agree with those reported in the literature, which show a range in the closure of the bone-air gap less than 10 db from 71% to 94%. The small number of cases or the predilection for one of the prostheses can influence the result described.
Abbreviations: PTA, auditory tonal average; db, decibel; gap, difference between bone and air curves.

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